Nonsense Brigadier, you're a swinger!
by Yhoretta
Summary: (I was inspired by a line I heard Sarah Jane say while I was re-watching "Robot"). The Doctor and Sarah Jane attend a U.N.I.T ball but sadly the Doctor won't dance with his companion. Time to use good old fashioned jealousy to her advantage.


"Please Doctor, we haven't seen the Brigadier or Sergeant Benton in simply ages!" moaned Sarah Jane, leaning against the TARDIS console. The Doctor absentmindedly flicked a switch but pretended as though she hadn't spoken.

"Oh come now. You said yourself 'Those blundering fools over at U.N.I.T will hardly be able to walk two steps straight without my assistance', " she continued in an amusing imitation of the Doctor's deep voice.

"Please?" The Doctor sighed and met her round, pleading eyes. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he stepped across the room, pulled a red lever and opened the doors.

"Why Sarah, I do believe we're already here," he observed, grinning.

"You sly dog! You did it while I was talking," accused Sarah Jane, earning another cheeky look from the Doctor.

"Come along then, let us pay a visit to some old friends."

They walked hand in hand through the Timelord's old laboratory and through the many hallways of U.N.I.T HQ. There was absolute silence at every corner, not a soul in sight. Finally a muffled pounding could be heard. It was like the beat of a song. And someone was singing.

"This way. The mess hall," directed the Doctor.

"I definitely hear music," said Sarah Jane, leaning her ear against the grey, metal door. She looked back at her friend.

"After you Sarah," insisted the Doctor graciously, gesturing to the door before holding it open.

"Why, thank you," replied Miss Smith, stepping inside.

What had once been the dining hall of U.N.I.T HQ had now been transformed into something reminiscent of a teenage prom without the teenagers. Tables of food decorated the sides of the room while music blasted out of a large radio against the front wall. Men and women in uniform danced with their partners in an awkward shuffle in the middle. Sergeant Benton broke free of the crowd, tugging along a blonde-haired woman with pink lipstick smudged around her lips, the same that now highlighted the corner of the Sergeant's mouth.

"Doctor, Sarah! What brings you two here?" he asked cheerily.

"We came to catch up actually," replied Sarah Jane. She raised an eyebrow at the slightly tipsy blonde before smiling at her and turning back to Benton

.

"Yes," mumbled the Doctor thoughtfully "Can you tell us what's going on here?"

"Quite. It all came from a conversation over the mail with Jo Grant, now Jo Jones of course. Anyway, she suggested a sort of "reward" for all us soldiers who've been working overtime since some of the other staff went on a pay strike! It was all very simple after that. My little sister suggested a dance which I passed on to the Brigadier and voila! Here we are," explained Benton.

"John! Can we please get back to dancing?" complained his blonde partner. The Sergeant shrugged an apology to his friends and followed the woman back into the crowd.

"Look Doctor," whispered Sarah Jane, tapping his arm "The Brig's standing all by himself. I wonder why he has no one to dance with? Well, would you like to dance Do-"

"Yes, most interesting," replied the Doctor, his every word laced with boredom "I'm going to go take a nap."

He walked off, leaving Sarah with her mouth open and an unfinished request on her tongue. She huffed indignantly and turned on her heels, walking straight for the isolated Brigadier.

"May I have this dance?" asked Sarah Jane, extending her hand to the surprised Lethbridge-Stewart. He questioned her presence at the U.N.I.T ball and explained that his wife was home with the flu so he couldn't dance with the annoyed Miss Smith.

"Come on Brigadier. As friends?" she insisted.

"Oh, very well," he relented.

The two waltzed into the centre of the crowd as a very tango-like song suddenly filled the room. Sarah Jane kept spinning in the Brigadier's arms, trying to catch a glimpse of the Doctor. After a minute she gave up and began to simply enjoy the movement.

Just as Sarah was tilted down, head nearly touching the floor, she caught a flash of scarf between the dancers. The Brigadier skillfully pulled her up as the song changed to a much more upbeat number. Around them people were swapping partners so as a tall, auburn-haired woman attacked Lethbridge-Stewart, the Doctor swept Sarah Jane into his embrace and began dancing awkwardly on the spot with her.

"I thought you were taking a nap," accused Sarah.

"My eyes never closed once," admitted the Doctor, twirling her around. Suddenly she was gone, another man had taken her as the room changed partners again. A middle-aged woman was suddenly in the Doctor's arms.

"Er, Hello," he said, craning his neck to spot Sarah Jane.

"Come here scarfy," purred his new partner, pulling him in for a kiss. The Doctor jumped back, knocking over another pair. Thankfully the room quickly began to swap around again.

"Excuse me, could you please help me find my friend Sarah?" asked the Doctor. Nodding, the uniformed man he was now dancing with pointed to the opposite side of the room where Sarah Jane had reunited with the Brigadier.

"Thank you very much," said the Time Lord, spinning the soldier around. They melted into their next partnership but before Benton's girlfriend could say a word the Doctor was crawling through the crowd on his hands and knees. Nevermind all the accidental kicks he was receiving for this. All the Doctor could do was hope the song didn't end before he made it back to her.

"Oi watch it!" someone cried. He had found his dance partner.

"Sarah!" cheered the Doctor.

"Doctor?!" exclaimed Sarah.

"May I have this dance?"

The Brigadier obligingly stepped back and quickly found another woman to dance with. Sarah Jane mimicked the Doctor's awful moves in an awkward shuffle across the crowded floor.

"Surely I'm not _that_ bad!" he complained. She laughed as if to say; "Yes, you really are."

Sadly the evening was cut short 5 minutes later as an emergency protocol revved up the U.N.I.T personnel. Sarah slumped forlornly back to the TARDIS, followed by the Doctor. Both were equally disappointed at how their dance had ended.

"You know, we could always continue it _here,_" suggested the Time Lord once they'd reached the console room.

"But we've no music," sighed Sarah Jane.

"Who needs music?" grinned the Doctor, pulling her close. She placed her hands on his chest, one over each heart as he slipped his arms around her waist. Sarah nuzzled her head into his solid form, dancing to the rhythm of his heartbeats. _Ba dum Ba dum, Ba dum Ba dum._

They shuffled in place. No longer awkward. Feeling each other's touch and simply enjoying it. The Doctor looked down at the fragile human. His best friend. Nothing else mattered in that moment.

It was just him, her and the TARDIS, floating through time.


End file.
